kelley



(ModeL) H. A. GORE, H. W. RU TON 88 G. W. KELLEY.

CARPET SWEEPER.

No. 888,808. Patented May 29, 1888.

HENRY GORE, HIRAM W. RU TON, AND GEORGE WV. KELLEY, OF GOSHEN,

INDIANA; SAID KELLEY ASSIGNOR TO EDWARD \V. VALKER, OF SAME PLACE.

CARPET-SWEEPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 383,806, dated May 29, 1888.

Application filed July 8, 1887. Serial No. 243,741. (Modeh) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY A. GORE, HIRAM W. RU TON, and GEORGE W. KELLEY, citizens of the United States, residing at Goshen, in the county of Elkhart and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in OarpetSweepers; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will [1) enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Thisinvention has relation to improvements in carpetsweepers. V

The object of the invention is to provide a r 5 cheap and simple means whereby the brush may be brought more forcibly against a carpet or floor during its revolving movement by pressing upon the case or handle, as will be presently explained.

The improvements will be fully understood from the following description and claims, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a carpet- 2 5 sweeper constructed according to our improvements, having the casing partly broken away to show the pan-latching levers. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a perspective View of one of the levers re- 7 3o moved.

Referring by letter to the said drawings, A indicates the case of our carpet-sweeper, which may be of the form usually employed, having a cushion or rubber band around it, as shown,

for preventing injury to the walls or furniture in a room. This case is also provided in its end walls with an open-bottom recess for the reception of the rotatable brush, which I have shown as having its supports in lug-journals on the lateral horizontal metallic strips B, which are secured to the side walls of the case. These end walls are also provided at opposite points with transverse slots, which are designed to receive the journal ends of the bail to which the handle is attached, and

the slots are sufliciently large to permit a limited play of the said journal ends of the bail. In some cases we make fast to the journals of the bail a small plate having a lug, D, against which one end of a spring, E, presses upwardly, so as to keep the journals of the bail up in the slots of the case, when the friction between the drive-wheels and brushshaft will be lessened, as will be presently explained. The opposite ends of this spring may be secured to the inner side of the said walls of the case at any suitable point. Ve do not, how ever, wish to confine ourselves to the form of spring shown nor the precise manner of connecting it with the journals of the bail, as it 6: is obvious that the lug above described might be omitted from the plate and the spring brought to bear directly against the under side of the journals, so as to normally keep them raised in the slots of the case. 6 5

F indicates hangers, in the lower ends of which are journaled the drivingwheels G. The hangers are designed to assume an inwardly-inclined position, as shown, and have pivoted to their upper ends levers H, which 7c are also pivoted about midway of their length to the side walls of the case. These levers H are each provided with an eye, a, in their inner overlapping ends, which are designed to register, as more fully shown in. Fig. 1., to receive the journal ends of the bail, which also pass into the slots in the case, as before mentioned.

It will be observed by this construction that the peripheries of the driving-wheels by the weight of the case alone are kept in frictional engagement with the periphery of a fixed disk or roller on the brush-shalt, and that when the case is moved the brush will be rotated, so as to remove the dust from a floor or carpet and drive it into the pans, from which it is afterward discharged, as will be presently explained. It will also be observed that the greater the friction between the drive-wheels and the roller of the brush shaft the more forcio ble will be the rotation of the brush, and as the wheels are fulcrumed on movable hangers the closer will become the relation between the door and brush, and consequently the cleaner will be the sweeping.

Te wish to here remark that we are aware that it is not new to provide drive-wheels with springs whereby they may be allowed to move and increase and decrease their frictional contact with the brush-shaft; but we have found by experience that such devices are not desirable, for the reason that they soon become impaired and do not effect a positive engagement of the parts.

It will be seen that when the bail is pressed upon, its journals, passing through the eyes in the levers H, will force them downwardly, which movement will lift their opposite ends, and, bringing the hangers with them, and at the same time the lower ends of the latter slightly inward, will cause the drive-wheels to take a similar course and increase their frictional engagement with the brush shaft or roller thereon.

I indicates the dust-pans, which are of the ordinary construction and arejournaled in the 1 side walls of the case in the usual manner, so as to tilt by gravity when a catch has been released, although they may be opened by means of aspring. These pans are provided with rearwardly-extending arms d, and to the outer ends of these are loosely attached latching-levers L, which pass up through slots in the roof of the case, as shown, and have a head or other suitable stop at their outer ends. In the slots we place a metallic plate, as at e, which are designed to engage a notch, g, in the edge of the latches L when the said latches have been depressed, which movement will close and lock the pans, the arms d having suificient spring to take up all lost motion and always keep the pans tightly closed. When itis desirable to open the pans, it is only necessary with the main case having slots in its :top wall,

as shown, of the slotted plates e, placed over the said slots of the case, the dust-pans pivoted at V their rear portion in the said case and having rearwardly-extending arms, (I, and the sliding latches L, pivoted at their lower ends to the said arms of the pans, and their upper ends projecting through the slots and provided with notches g in their forward edges to engage with the slotted plates e,substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY A. GORE. HIRAM W. RU TON. GEORGE WV. KEELEY. \Vitnesses:

WM. M. PULLING, Jos. L. MISHLER. 

